1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process and to plant for producing a restructured meat article, to a device for compacting meat fragments, and to a device for compressing a preform for a meat article.
2. Description of Related Art
A prior art process for producing a restructured meat article is already known; it is of the type comprising:
destructuring at least one piece of meat by fragmenting it; and
transforming the meat fragments into a restructured meat article.
In general, a restructured piece of meat should, as far as possible, retain properties regarding mastication by a consumer that are similar to those of a piece of meat that has not been destructured.
This is primarily achieved by retaining, as far as possible, the structure of the meat's lipocytes and myofibrils, which have a diameter that is generally less than 50 micrometers.
Normally, the meat fragments are obtained by chopping or cutting the initial piece of meat into shreds of varying thickness.
In the prior art, proposals have already been made for transforming meat fragments into a restructured meat article by using endless screw or pusher blade extrusion means. Generally, the restructured meat article obtained has a generally cylindrical shape.
However, it has been observed that the mechanical stresses to which the meat fragments are subjected in conventional extrusion means damage the structure of the lipocytes and myofibrils in the meat and denature the organoleptic characteristics perceived during mastication by someone consuming the restructured meat (raw or cooked).